"I thought I could get into a mobile home park and it would be the answer to not being homeless," she said.

Cathey is not alone. San Diegans are looking for housing alternatives given the median rent of $1,992 in the county. A report released Tuesday states most families spend 69 percent of their income on housing.

A homeless couple fled from police and led them on a chase all the way to Orange County causing a major freeway to shut down. The couple talked exclusively to NBC 7's Megan Tevrizian on why they fled.

(Published Friday, May 3, 2019)

"I've been fortunate that hasn't happened," Cathey says glancing over her shoulder in the RV so her children can't hear. "I don't want them to come home from school to no home at all."

Cathey says the tickets she's amassed haven't been paid yet because of a class-action lawsuit.

The suit claims the ordinance is being used to target more than 800 of San Diego's "most vulnerable residents." In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs claim "their vehicles are their only reliable safe shelter....despite no adequate alternative...they're repeatedly ticketed and harassed."

The City Attorney's Office issued a statement saying: "This is an area of active litigation. The City is responding through the courts."

It's the type of relief Cathey says she needs from mounting ticket costs and RV repairs that keep her from getting on the road to a better life for her and her children.

"I'm just stuck. Just stuck running," Cathey said.

There are three safe parking lots in the region to help people transition out of their cars into homes. The facilities are not available to people in mobile homes.

There are mobile home parks but a number of people told NBC 7 they're too expensive.

In Cathey's case, she works and can afford it, but says some restrict her because of the number of children in her RV.